#BookReview: Bound to Ransom by Kiru Taye @kirutaye



THE BLURB

Since the death of her mother, Gloria Rawlins's life has been a series of disappointments by the people she cares about; first by her father and then in a series of disastrous relationships that have shattered pieces of her heart one after another. She's no angel and refuses to make herself vulnerable to anyone again. Until one man threatens to strip away the wall shielding her heart.

Henry Coker is not afraid of challenges. Rejected by his father and raised by a single mother, he's had to work hard from the bottom up to prove himself to his peers and the world. But Gloria, the one person he desires above all others remains out of reach until an opportunity presents itself and he has the chance to buy her.

Desire like theirs cannot be hidden and passion sizzles between them. But making someone fall in love may just be a challenge too far.

Bound to Ransom is a story about breaking the cycle of self-destruction, finding redemption and the powerful love that endures.

MY REVIEW
Bound to Ransom is a Taming-of-the-shrew themed story that starts off way outside my comfort zone. Fuelled by unrequited love and a desire for revenge, Henry purchases Gloria in a bid to humiliate her as she had done to him in the past. This starts off with Henry asserting his dominance through sex play (remember what I said about my comfort zone?).

The story is well written, full of tension and passion. Ms Taye's writing style is fluid as she wrings the last drop of emotion from her characters. There is a good mixture of modern and traditional African culture, which adds to the story's allure. I found the characters to be well-rounded and interesting although my favourite character was a secondary character (whom I was happy to note gets his own story soon).

There is a whole lot of character development particularly for Gloria, who starts out as a Class A bitch. We see her fall from her high horse and learn many lessons in humility as the story progresses. As much as she has grown, I also couldn't shake the sense that the transition had left her broken. Sadly, I couldn't relate to her - neither to her bitchy self nor her humble self at the end.

Henry is relentless and a whole lotta sexy. As the story progresses you see exactly where he is coming from and why he took the actions he took. At the end of the story, I am sold on the fact that Henry loves Gloria. He proves himself to be honorable where a lesser man would have rejected Gloria after everything life had put her through. Unfortunately, I still find myself unable to accept his initial humiliations meted on Gloria's person. He may have demonstrated his love, and he may have been shamed by some events in the book, but he still didn't suffer the kind of humiliation/punishment that would have made my satisfaction complete.

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